About this permit
Angel Island's environmental campsites are the only legal way to spend a night on the largest natural island in San Francisco Bay. There are four camping areas: East Bay (sites 1-3), Ridge (sites 4-6), Sunrise (sites 7-9), and the West Garrison side with site 10 and the Kayak Camp. Each campsite has a table, food locker, running water, pit toilet and barbecue.
Getting there is the part people underestimate. Angel Island has no roads or bridges from the mainland. You arrive by public ferry from Tiburon or San Francisco, or by private boat. From the dock, campers carry their equipment 1.5 to 2 miles, some of it uphill. Charcoal grills or camp stoves are permitted; wood fires are not allowed anywhere on the island.
Reservations open six months in advance through ReserveCalifornia and, in the park's own words, are booked quickly. Site 10 is the island's only ADA-accessible campsite. Only service animals are allowed on Angel Island, so no pets. The island has 13 miles of trails and roadways for hikers and 9 miles open to cyclists, with foot trails and Mount Livermore closed to bikes.
The route
Everything starts at the ferry landing at Ayala Cove, from Tiburon or San Francisco. There are four environmental camping areas and the carry is 1.5 to 2 miles from the dock, some of it uphill. East Bay holds sites 1-3 on the island's east side, generally protected from wind. The Ridge sites, 4-6, are more exposed and pay for it with views of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco. Sunrise sites 7-9 sit on the east side too and can be booked individually or combined as a group camp for up to 24 people. Over on the west side near a small beach is the Kayak Camp, which takes groups up to 20. Site 10, the island's only ADA-accessible campsite, is there too, near the Point Stuart Loop. Once you are set up, Mount Livermore at 788 feet is a 4-mile round trip with 140 trail stairs on the North Ridge Trail, and the historic sites (Camp Reynolds a mile west, the Immigration Station a mile north, Fort McDowell two miles) fill a day easily.
Why it matters
There is nowhere else in the Bay Area where you can watch the lights of San Francisco come on from your own campsite. Angel Island has no roads or bridges to the mainland, so the last ferry leaves and the island belongs to ten campsites' worth of people. Ten sites for the entire Bay Area is why these go the day the six-month window opens.
The feeling
The ferry pulls away and the noise goes with it. You shoulder your pack at Ayala Cove and climb a mile and a half to two miles, depending on which camp you drew, and then the Golden Gate Bridge is right there across the water. Wind is the constant: the Ridge sites are exposed and get the view, the East Bay sites are tucked out of it. No wood fires are allowed anywhere on the island, so dinner is charcoal or a camp stove.
